The other day I went over my 2013 ESPN ranklings. There, I was all fire, brimstone and gangsta rap. Saying eff this, and eff that. I was pissed off like I was Tim Dog right after landing at LAX. I was spitting bullets, y’all needed to wear a vest. Now, I’m looking at Yahoo’s 2013 fantasy baseball rankings and Tim Dog didn’t get enough penicillin on wax and now he’s RIP. BTW, If you were a rapper in the 80’s or early 90’s or a professional wrestler, watch over your shoulder, son, the reaper is comin’ for you. “Multivitamins are better than any alcohol or aphrodisiac…” That’s Tone Loc working on a new song. More people use Yahoo than any other fantasy baseball game provider thing-a-ma-boobie, so more schmohawks are reading their rankings than any other rankings, yet I never take their rankings serious. Quick analogy that may or may not make sense: There’s years of looking up to your father, whether you agree all the time or not. Then, one day, he takes a poop on your couch. He should take him to the hospital; he’s in need of some sort of psychology examination. If the tests come back conclusive that he pooped the couch simply out of laziness, then that’s ESPN. Okay, now, Yahoo is your 8-year-old cousin pooping your couch. You’re annoyed, but you’re not sending the kid for psychology examinations. In other words, I always feel like ESPN should know better, but Yahoo, well, they have The Noise ranking Curtis Granderson 14th overall. Even Jose Canseco knows Granderson may have hit 60 homers in 30,000 BC due to a lack of gravity, but he still would need a ton of luck to hit .240. My apologies to Saltines, but Grandy at 14th overall is crackers (even before the injury).

Still, we should all be thanking Yahoo. Since they’re hosting more fantasy drafts than anyone else, they’re also steering more people in the most head-scratching ways. I really want Justin Upton this year (as my top 10 shows). Thanks to The Noise ranking him 32nd overall, Upton is all the way down at twenty-one in Yahoo’s overall rankings. More Upton for us, so thank you. They’ve killed any chance for Strasburg by ranking him 13th overall, but they’ve also buried Adam Jones (36), Adrian Gonzalez (45), Goldschmidt (48) and Matt Holliday (45). On the flip side, they’ve made it really easy to ignore guys that are ranked too high like Kipnis (56), Jered Weaver (43), Dickey (54) and Jacoby Ellsbury (35). Didn’t want to have make a decision on Rizzo and whether or not he’d have a sophomore slump? Now you don’t have to because they ranked him 63rd. I didn’t see Dee Gordon ranked in their top 100 this year after they ranked him in the 7th round last year, but maybe I missed him.

The biggest question I get is, “Do you use hair care products on your upper lip?” The second biggest question I get is, “If Yahoo (ESPN, CBS, Fox, whoever) ranks this player way after you’ve ranked them, do you wait to draft them?” The short answer is depends. The long answer is deeeeeeeeeeeeepends. In our first draft of the season, we wanted Beckett and had him at the top of our draft board when the 130th pick was coming off the board, but he was ranked in the 200’s by the place where we were drafting, so we didn’t take him at our 139th overall pick, or our 169th pick, or our 192th pick… We took him 222th overall. Now, I also don’t risk losing a player I really want. We wanted Goldschmidt and could have either drafted him 19th overall (which we did) or hoped he was around for our next pick at 42. Why wait when you want someone? I’d much rather draft a team I want, then try to play cute.

(BTW, for those wondering if I’m going to look at CBS’s rankings, I’m not. To throw it back to the intro analogy, CBS’s rankings are like a 3-month-old pooping on your couch. If you use CBS’s rankings, you should’ve known better to leave non-diapered rankings where you didn’t want them to defecate.)

So, let’s cut out the jibber-jabbering, though I’m already failing on that front. Sometimes I just can’t keep my big mouth shut. Thankfully, since I type with my tongue. You know, when I type “Mmm…,” I really mean it. That sounds like the start of a bad Yelp review, which is redundant because there are no good Yelp reviews. “The food was great, but I’m giving this restaurant one star because there was no parking. Knock down the homeless shelter next door and put up some parking meters!” That’s helpful, thanks Gael Greene! Any the hoo! I’m going to list players in a handy chart like I did the other day with ESPN. The Thank You’s have it. It being good value from my rankings vs. Yahoo’s. The No Thank You’s don’t have it. They’re bad people. Meh, they might be okay people, but they’re likely not ending up on any of my Yahoo drafted teams. For this, I’ll be using my 2013 fantasy baseball rankings (go figure!) and Yahoo’s 2013 fantasy baseball rankings (crazy, right?). For overall ranking, I’m going on Yahoo’s top 100 and not on their pre-draft rankings that are in your league tab because those don’t match up with their experts’ rankings (yeah, I have no idea either).

There’s a top 100 for all the ‘perts on Yahoo… Then there’s a top 1000 or something in the pre-draft rankings for your team… But the pre-draft rankings for your teams don’t match up to the ‘perts rankings and there’s nothing that leads me to believe those are the ‘pert rankings…

Reckon Motte’s worth keeping for a year at 11 bucks? See you have him valued bang on that mark in your point shares. Would be my final keeoer and only closer, but if not ill keep 7 rather than 8. Know you dont like paying for saves though, SAGNOF!

Also keep going back and forth over Encarnacion. Definately wanna keep him but question is 2 years ($8) or 3 ($12)? Im very hesitant to commit to a guy for 3 years especially to a 30yr old but could it be worth it? Or should I play it safe with 2.

@Rudy Gamble: I also hate these ones (this is from a real 1 star review): “I really wanted to say great things about this place because the food was absolutely delicious, but the service that me and my friend got at this spot last night was rather unfriendly and very unprofessional. First we were late for our table, which of course, completely our fault, but…….”

On Yahoo: At least, their system and page is easier to navigate – to some degree

Not that Yahoo does not have its problems – TOTAL PRE DRAFT LOCK OUT and TOTAL IN DRAFT SHUT DOWN are always problems on Yahoo lurking there to ruin your draft .. Testing your personal fantasy rage gauge to the limits … Maybe even, shattering the glass on it..

And the lesser, YAHOO IN DRAFT BUMP OFF is a minor to major pisser too… These can occur to your team at anytime before or during draft…. Like when you wind up with Granderson on your team in the 2nd round before you can get back on to stop Yahoo from taking over your team….

In all of these, your team falls into YAHOO AutoWorld – a really bad place to be…. Look what it did to your write up today, Mr Gray!!!!…

It happens about every 4 or 5 Yahoo drafts for me historically… We had a big private league on there for 5 years… Every year someone got the Yahoo hit to some degree… I got a major Yahoo BooBoo one year… I just froze my team… That’s what I always do in those leagues where it happens…

Moving on…

Went back to edit draft ranking page on ESPN had been doing better for about a half hour – when – I highlighted a player – mistakenly it turned out -just to see what it would do – and it froze the entire page… The ranking page is still a nightmare for me… It needs some help in a big way… Drag and drop sucks!!!

HEY, ESPN DO SOMETHING TO THAT SYSTEM!!!!!

For all my bellyaching I will give both ESPN and Yahoo one thing they are both perfect at = They are FREE!!! A nice thing to have out there for everyone… Having played in the full blown “$$$players$$$” leagues in the past, I know how nice Free is… And none of the drama either… Most of which is normally self inflicted BTW…

??????????????
Granderson???? Here is a fella set to miss 6 weeks of the season with a lower arm injury (never a good thing for a hitter)…

How big a discount does the Razzman give him now???…. You have already got him lower than most… His BA is a killer for an OF.. ((But still, you have been too harsh on him IMO – It seems you accept potential in others – why not him = 30+ / 100+ potential doesn’t grow on trees ?? … He is only 31 or 32 YO)

In Yahoo and ESPN with only one DL slot I have found it is hard to carrying DLed players on your bench at kick off…

That said, for a Granderson or any around top 100*** player or above one makes exceptions– (where we are finding him) … ((( I bet in all your drafts he had gone in the top 100 players – not by you and me maybe – but by others)))

When players are injured their total #s are going to be added to by a fill-in in a pure way… This must be factored in when discounting them… As they will return as full time players —
They become A + B = C players … This better than running a lesser player all year…

@T Moore: FYI, Grey updated Granderson’s ranking and I’ve updated his mixed league 5×5 $. I have him now at 398 PA from ~550 so his value will definitely go down. Could be a solid gamble in shallow leagues b/c you can DL him and pick up a FA. Prefer that than have to waste a bench spot on a minor leaguer when I could stash more pitchers (one of the reasons, regrettably, I didn’t draft Trout in last year’s RCL).

Grey, read your detailed analysis a couple of weeks ago as to type of position player/stats to draft after your #1 pick – and agree with most of it – but did I miss your order between Miggy, Trout, & Braun?

Grey I loved that you came out spitting fire about spitting fire.
My keepers for next year-
Mccutchen, J-Upton, Ginacarlo Stanton, Jose Reyes
My team is loaded, but for the 5th spot i’m debating between Goldy and E5. I think I’m with you and I’m going to be drinking the Goldschlager.

Prospect Question: In keeper leagues, outside of Profar, Myers, Taveras, and d’Arnaud, who would you suggest to be a better offensive prospect to target than Christian Yelich? I currently own Profar, Myers, and Yelich in my farm, and I have plenty of trade bait. Should I go get someone to replace Yelich? I like him a lot, but I was curious. I tend not to go after minor league pitchers, since it takes a while to get their innings up, and they get hurt more often. Love your site. Thanks!

@Aaron: Jedd Gyorko could a worth a gander. Tryin out for the 2b job in SD. Hit a thunderous bomb on Friday for a grand slam. Pop from the thin 2b slot with 3b eligibility also. Yes please. Watch this space.

@Aaron: Not a ton of cant-miss position guys…here are three that might see playing time in 2013 – Nick Franklin (SS) and Mike Zunino (C/DH) on Seattle, Aaron Hicks (OF) on Twins, Hunter Morris (1B) on Brewers

In an 8 Team H2H where most people keep bats, and we keep 5, would you look at an arm with your first pick or stick with bats? I REALLY want Goldy, even though I have Prince, because he can be the utility man of my dreams. But not sure if I should look for him in the first round or look at the best available arm (which is technically the 6th round). Now that I think about it, I won last year so I have two picks in a row. So do I go with best two bats, or best bat and arm?

I’m fairly certain I can squeak a decent rotation out of arms down the road and dominate with the bats if I stockpile early. We have some dumbasses, who surprisingly read this site, but still go with pitchers early and then end up with Marin Prado as their starting 3rd baseman. No wonder I’m sitting on a three-peat…

Aw, I was hoping you’d go farther than the top 100 for Yahoo — it’s weird that the expert rankings don’t line up with the autodraft rankings, but it’s the autodraft rankings that really matter for those of us playing in Yahoo leagues.

For the Public Good, here are some more Yahoo bargains beyond those listed above, presented as Name/Grey’s Ranking/Yahoo’s Ranking:

@Your Mom: @Grey: Bit wary of hanging my hat on Ryu also. Apparently he’s quite rotund, and competing with Lilly, Capuano and a few more for the fifth spot. I guess Koufax is working with him on his curve. He’s worth nothing till he secures the spot.

I agree that ESPN and Yahoo seem to be crappy but ESPN staff rankings are 5th in accuracy ranking at Fantasy Pros, and the Yahoo crew individually fairs pretty well too. What’s up with that? And where would the Razzers stack up?

My methodology for Rankings is different than FantasyPros. I think FantasyPros’ make a certain amount of sense IF you don’t actually have real fantasy baseball league data. If you read my rankings review post, you’ll see why I think our methodology which leverages RCL league data is superior. On a quick glance, it does appear that we grade common rankings sources similarly aside from ESPN. I still think there may be a bias against ESPN in my test because the drafts are held on ESPN (and worse players might depend on ADP more than better players) but generally would only use ESPN to gauge how the average person will draft vs. how I should rank players.

So, I was planning on keeping Grandy with a 9th rd pick in a 10 team league, is he still worth keeping? My other options are R Soriano 22nd round, Machado 21st round, Profar 23rd rd, Kimbrel 4th pick.. C Lee 2nd rd. who would you keep?

My hero: Great article wise one, I’ve been waiting on this write-up, Theres some great values over at yahoo if you believe in Grey and do as Grey says…Funny story, I was in a mock at yahoo the other night and noticed a lot of Greys “loved” players were being taken by the mockers, so I start striking up a convo and over HALF the room was using your rankings…The “razz word” is getting out too fast in my opinion. Great for this site and great for you but bad for us that have been following you for years and killing our leagues. I’m not so sure if your values will benefit us as much as in the past….Ah well…Have to adjust and deal….PS please take this article off the main page and bury deep…:) Peace!

I am drafting 9th and 12th in a Y! 5×5 w/OBP keeper league where 80 players total are already kept. I currently have no pitching and have a nice little stable of keepers. Kinsler, McCutchen, Heyward, Headley, Castro, Adam Jones, Justin Upton and Austin Jackson. I seriously need to focus on pitching and can probably land Moore and Scherzer, but do I want to draft them at 9th and 12th respectively.

@Grey: @Grey: OK so Scherzer was kept! Do I Grab Zimmerman and Moore with my first two picks or Moore and Darvish? Phillips and Zimmerman, R will be available there too, but I have Kinsler and Headley.

Funny you should mention tearing down a homeless shelter to put up parking. I live next to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and that’s exactly what happened last year. There were widespread protests, but only because none of the spots were reserved for my neighbors. We keep it classy!

Separately, Fernando Rodney is getting drafted average 102 in Yahoo. Just sayin’…

I have a dilema, I really want a second baseman, and am eye balling a $22 Pedroia, my thoughts are giving the guy Carlos Santana -$12- (I have a huge man crush on Carlos but I also have Salvador Perez ($1) now, so it’s not as huge as it use to be) and Choo -$18- (Don’t plan on keeping Choo for I have better options), should I offer up the deal? 10 team keeper, keep 5 over $5 and 8 at $5 and under.

I’m in a traditional 5×5 roto league with 14 hitters and 8 pitchers (5 sp, 2 rp, 1 p). There are from 10-13 teams in the league depending on the year. It is unique in that there is no bench and we get 1 add/drop a week, all on the same day. Given this restriction how would you change your draft strategy?

This wouldn’t change hitter strategy much but it greatly changes how one has to value pitching. Not only is streaming taken out of the equation but you can’t bench pitchers with a bad matchup (e.g,. @COL). I’d invest more in quality SP and aim to go with 6 SP. For closers, I’d probably aim for one guy in the middle of the pack and another guy who is a borderline closer – figuring you can always drop him for his replacement if he falters.

I believe that we discussed the issue that arises from hittracker’s data – whether someone who hits a lot of JE or Lucky HR one year will hit less HR the following year – and all came to the conclusion that someone should figure it out. Well, someone did, and the analysis shows that a batter with a high JE/HR ratio is likely to hit less HR the following year. http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/the-definitive-espn-home-run-tracker-study/

@Grey: Yeah, it seemed pretty logical, but it’s nice that someone went out and showed that it was true. Too bad, as I mention below, that the information is not very helpful this year in the fantasy world. The idea made me avoid McGehee way back when, so that’s nice. But I wasn’t going after McCann, Smoak, or Stubbs anyway, so I’ll just have to remember this for the future.

@royce!: So far I can’t find anyone with an egregiously high JE/HR ratio…well, 10 of McCann’s 20 were JE, which is pretty bad…in the NL, the high JE guys mostly hit about 1/3 JEs, so nothing seems to stand out…Stubbs % was over 50 (8 JE of 14 HR)…in the AL, only Smoak seems to stand out (9 of 19), but I don’t think many people were drafting him anyway…meh, not as interesting as I thought.

Written by Mike Podhorzer who will be competing in the RCL Expert league.

Yeah, this makes sense. I think the question I have is that I imagine the projection systems already regress the HRs for established players with a high % of JE/HR just by the nature that their latest year was anomalous for power. I know Asdrubal had a lot of ‘just enough’ HRs in 2011 and his HR projections from ZiPS/Steamer were lower than his 2011. But it’s definitely something to keep in mind when deciding b/w two players.

@Rudy Gamble: I agree that the projection systems probably already account for this just based on the player’s previous years, but I think that some rankings and FBB managers fail to do so, leading them to overvalue a player based on their last year’s numbers.

Asdrubal’s a great example. He had 15 JE in 2011, and only 5 last year, dropping his HR from 25 to 16. (Seems that around 1/3 is the normal ratio for JE/HR). ESPN’s 2012 early rankings had him at 63, Now they’ve got him at 93 and they project him to hit 19 HR. I can’t find what they projected for him in 2012, though I expect it was in the mid-20s for HR. Steamer and James, on the other hand, project him for 15 or 16 HR. Anyhow, ESPN still seems to think that the 25 HR were not an outlier, and just bumped him down a couple rounds based on last year’s numbers.

The problem with expecting the projection systems to account for it is that they don’t seem to distinguish between legitimate strides in power and those that are more attributable to luck, so this information could provide a slight advantage (of course, it depends on there actually being interesting players with a high JE/HR ratio, and it seems there really aren’t many this year).

I’ll have to take a look at those players with low JE/HR ratios…seems that for those with any power, one could generally expect an increase in HR.

And you are right that I don’t think any projection system factors ‘just enough’ HRs – but because they regress anomalous HR spikes, it’s possible that someone self-correcting might actually over-count this factor.

Just wondering whats the best way to use your rankings for my drafts? Was gonna use your top 400 page but noticed its sorted by draft ranking rather than position. I rather use ones that has the players sorted by position with ranking next to them. Makes it easier to find players.

Keepers are Prince, McCutchen, Ellsbury, AGon, D. Jennings, Scherzer, Wainwright
My first draft pick will be either Sandoval or Choo. Who should I take? I dont have a pick for a few more rounds after that and the only 3B that will be left are Aramis and Alvarez.

would you trade reyes or kinsler for bruce in a keeper league? no limit on years kept and will be same cost to keep reyes/kinsler/bruce (7th rd pick). if yes, would you rather trade reyes or kinsler (i also have tulo and weeks as a last rd keeper). 2b/ss/MI

Are you guys going to release a new war room download with updated rankings after some of spring training? If yeah, will I be able to just copy and paste the “Player” and “Dashboard” pages with the new rankings over the current file? I’ve made some edits to other parts, which is why I ask.

We start 4 SP and 2RP each week for H2H matchups. I’m thinking the new scoring devalues RP’s significantly by 2 less points per save, -2 points for blown save, and no quality start chances. However, players with SP/RP eligibility have much more value for one of the RP slots. Seems like elite pitchers with a history of quality starts are most likely to score most points as opposed to guys who struggle to get to 6 innings (Captain Obvious reporting). Agree with this assessment or have any other ideas? Thanks!

I play in a 14 team league with 9 offensive cats (R, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, SB, K, AVG, OPS).

I’m already going to keep Upton in the 1st and Hamilton in the 3rd. I know your feelings on Kipnis are MUCH lower than everyone else but do you feel he has some value keeping in the 11th round? I could also keep Yadier in the 19th which I feel is pretty awesome, but also hate catchers and feel like they all put up the same-ish numbers anyways. It’s just the more I look at 2B this year the more thin I think it is.

My league also has 9 pitching cats (W, L, K/BB, K, SV, HLD, ERA, WHIP, QS) but it seems the entire league values hitting way more than pitching. Of the 42 players being kept probably a max of 6 will be pitchers. My pitching keeping options would be:
Bumgarner (5th)
Gio (6th)
Zimmerman (8th)
Minor (18th)

I like the PEDS strategy and will definitely be implementing most of it but I also LOVE the Rudy strategy of the value based first 9 picks setup. Like the flexibility it offers cause I hate being pigeon-holed into certain positions/categories.

So I guess my question is should I trust my gut and keep Kipnis (11) due to thin 2B, the trusted yet boring C stud Molina (19), or should I zig when everyone is zagging and keep one of my pitchers (Gio, Zimmerman and Minor all stand out to me)?

Grey I also heard through the interweb people grapevine I know that you live in Austin? If so I manage a wine bar/cafe in town with plenty of cougars, $12 salads and am known to rock a wonderful mustache from time to time. Come to Apothecary and I’ll buy you a glass of our finest cheap wine, sorry no daquiris.

I love cougars and Austin, but I don’t live there, Rudy does… He’s been known to hit wine bars in a smoking jacket, you should tell him about it… I’d keep Kipnis… At 11th round, it’s too good of value to pass up…

@Grey: Thank you sir, I thought I should trust my gut just needed some outside input.

Rudy the same offer applies, if you’d like to discuss draft strategy over a glass of wine here in the lovely ATX I’m happy to oblige here at Apothecary…. First glass and cougars are free, Mac and Cheese is on you though

Love the site, I’ve been following for two years now, and you helped steer me to my first win last year.

Quick questions. I’m in a OPS keeper league, where we keep up to 8, and I have 9 definite keepers: Tulo, Verlander, Posey, Price, and 5 Outfielders: Stanton, Trout, Bruce, Jones, and J. Upton. I need to do a 2-for-1 deal, but I don’t know who to target, and who to give up. Any insight?

1. Why so high on Longoria but so low on Tulo? They’ve missed nearly identical number of games have equal output plus Tulo’s position is lighter.

2. Why so low on Billy Butler? Do you think he will regress? His numbers last year are about what Votto puts up in a whole year. Guy’s just turning 26.. I would think his projections should at least put him with A Gonz.

I know you like Kendrys Moraels as a sleeper this year… but would you got as far as to recommend waiting until the double-digit rounds to draft him as your starting 1B if you missed one of the top 5 guys? That has been my strategy while doing mocks.

Oh and Grey, the next time you feel the urge to destroy what little competitive advantage I have, please hold your breath and publish in April! Because now, there is no way they’re gonna let me get an outfield like that again! Upton will now be snagged, Jones will be kidnapped and Choo will be pilfered!

I have picks 13 and 16 in a 14-team, 6 x 6 (R, HR, TBs, RBI, SB, OBP x 5 cats + holds) keeper league, where the first four rounds (top 56) are already kept. My four keepers are Miggy, Hamilton, Castro, and Bruce. Next year we move to six keepers; year after that, it moves to eight – unless someone repeats, then the league resets. Anyway, this set-up seemingly adds even more value to the youngsters – but also creates market opportunities bc people will be undervaluing the old guys.

I’m finding it hard to determine the right balance, howev – so just looking for advice on my first two picks, which should help gauge your thoughts on a draft strategy for our league…

1. Would you rate guys like Profar and Myers even higher than I have them (right now, both are around mid-40s in my ranks) and move all in to nab one-of-’em with my first two picks?

2. I have Machado way up there already – I know you like him too. I’m high on Hosmer too. But say these two and Cliff Lee fall to me at 13. Would you take the Adverb, or target the next-Hanley-looking-ish or Hosmer-looking-ish dude?

3. And finally, if everything happens to go according to my ranks, would you go with two SPs with my first two picks (Moore + Wainwright) – or would you advise taking at least one SP with these two picks but def a bat with the other (Moore + Rizzo; Choo + Wainwright; etc)?

@Grey: I like it, it’s jim jeffries show on FX. really wrong in a lot of ways but thats what I like about it. He plays him self and lives with his best friend and his best friends brother who has Muscular Dystrophy and is in a wheel chair. It’s on Thursday nights.

@Grey: The pilot is about them breaking the brother with MD (played by DJ Qualls) out of his nursing home and taking him to Nevada so he can go to a cat house and lose his virginity with a pro. Of course trying to convince a hooker to do a guy with MD is part of the battle.

Should I go with the top 14 on my list and see who’s left at 1.12 out of my non keepers? I’m not thrilled with keeping Weeks, and this league is RP loco in drafts so I might not get Johnson back if I dont keep him. I know I wont get Marte back either as 2 guys that pick ahead of me are huge Pirates homers. Thoughts?

@Grey: Not particularly related, but fantasy readership can present a unique dichotomy: the more a user enjoys the content, the less-likely the user may be to share it with his (or 4 hers) network. It’s not like this with other content/media. (Except maybe porn?)

Fantasy Baseball Expert: for when your regular life as a writer isn’t challenging enough.

@Grey: For real. This may have a lot to do with what we perceive to be ESPN’s (and others’) laziness: they’re producing content for content’s sake. Like Bleacher Report.

They aren’t interested in spending the time/money in creating QUALITY content. They don’t need (or want) to make that investment because they’re just trying to drive traffic to their online ecosystem. “Ok, boys, just make sure we have new, glossy widgets 3-4 times a day to keep ’em coming back.”

It’s been a while since I’ve paid attention, but ever notice how ESPN only cross-references new material, not older stuff? They don’t invest enough for any of their content to have a shelf life. It goes stale (and/or rotten) in a week. The only thing they have to link to is their newer stuff. Keep you in their ecosystem another 2-3 minutes, give hits to another couple pages, that’s it.

It’s a craven approach to content that attracts the lowest common denominator of consumer (which happens to be the majority of consumers… not sure how the math works on that one). Just check out their comment section and/or message boards. But, come on, the boss is Mickey Mouse; Matthew Berry is no more and expert than Selena Gomez is an actor.

Can’t argue with any of that… You might’ve just made your way onto the comment of the week segment on the new and improved podcast coming in March… You’re right, they don’t need good content… In fact, the shoddier the content the better they might be because then people click around to their other writers to see if someone else is making more sense…

@Grey: I think i’m going to start applying for jobs writing for all these LCD FBB sites. I can just ramble senselessly like I do in here on a regular basis. Don’t tell T Moore, I don’t need the competition.

@Grey: we plant moles in every major fantasy site and then slowly ruin them over time while at the same time feeding their readers links to razzball. then they have no choice but to beg for mercy and razzball is crowned king and has its own cable channel. Coup d’ Grayw

I thought Granderson’s injury was a blessing in a Groucho-mustache disguise; $16 keeper? I can do better. But then I looked at my options:

Complete my MIs with Hill ($8) – and potentially leave most of the league to fight over the Weeks brothers at 2B? Other options: Middlebrooks ($3) is there, but I’m not impressed, McKayla. Nor am I blown away by the values of potential pitching keepers: Peavy ($6), Zimmermann ($13), Motte ($11), Axford ($6).

I’m in a slow draft, OPS league, 15 teams.
I’ve drafted Miggy and David Wright so far.
In the third round would it be crazy to take Edwin Encarnacion (I’m a Jays fan)? Or should I take Hanley instead since I already have two 3B’s?

The O-Ranks (the ones in the draft room) are Yahoo’s top-300 aggregate rankings (not outsourced from RotoWire). The reason the current top-100 composite may not quite match up exactly is just because that was added like a week later, so some rankers probably changed/updated their lists by then.

My team is an Exlax and Ambien Cocktailsays:
February 25, 2013 at 9:47 pm (link)

2 keeper questions
In a 12 team mixed yahoo roto 5×5 non snake draft, I have 8th pick. They have a different keeper setup. You have to keep 5 players and are given a total of 12 yrs to assign to them with no draft penalty. 10 of your top 50 will be in the draft this year with no position being unreasonably short and lots of arms out there. I am committed to Ian Kinsler 2yrs, Adrian Gonzalez 2yrs, Carlos Santana 3yrs, leaving me 2 keeper spots and 5 yrs. My options are:

In my 10 tm h2h dynasty league, we only have 3 OF slots. The past two years I’ve been collecting OF’ers like they are candy and I’m a fat kid, resulting in my roster having Braun, Bruce, Granderson, BJ Upton, Bourn, Smelly Cruz and last year I even grabbed Starling Marte for good measure.

We have three UTIL slots, so I can play the top guys regularly but mostly two or three ride the pine. Most other teams have the same crowded OF shituation, making trades involving middle to lower end OF guys impossible (I tried moving Granderson last year and the returns were underwhelming). My query is, given your rankings & the afforementioned roster squeeze, am I crazy for thinking about letting all but Braun, Bruce, Upton go? It gives me more draft picks, better roster flexibility & and overall better feeling about my life. The cons are I could be giving up Bourn’s SB’s and Grandy’s low av/high hr totals. Plus Marte still has a high ceiling, so it wouldn’t kill me to hold him & see what develops. Thoughts?

Need some help with my keepers. Here are my options, kemp 1st rd, votto 2nd rd, kershaw 3rd rd, Stanton 4th rd, Holliday 5th rd, bumgarner 16th rd, Desmond in like the 24 rd, . Can only select 5 keepers, I also have the choice of keepers FA that I picked up last yr and you lose your very last round picks by keeping them. My FA options would be Headley, goldschmidt, Napoli, . I want to keep goldschmidt or headley but with my early round keepers I don’t think I can. I think I’m gonna keep kemp, votto, kershaw, Stanton and bumgarner. I lose my first 4 rounds picks but with those players that’s huge value, don’t think I could repeat those first 4 rounds again. Thoughts?